2007/4/12

This farmhouse is presumed to have been built in the late 17th century or even earlier. Very old architectural style is used for this house. The three sides of the housed except the front are huge walls with a thickness of more than 20 cm. The lath used on top of rafters is made of round bamboo and other miscellaneous wood. The house has two main transverse beams, which are supported by pillars. Horizontal beams are used at two points to support the main transverse beams instead of the pillars when removed to and reconstructed at the present place. All the other pillars stand in the original forms. The pillars are made of square timbers of the same size, which were scarped with chona (a Japanese hand ax) and finished with a planer. The inner room called “dei” has an alcove, which was very rare in those days. As is seen in old-fashioned houses, the heavy lintels are used instead of tie beams to fit around pillars. To get less air circulation for the sake of warmth, doma (the earth floor space) and the adjacent room are partitioned with a wood door with a lattice window and the store room has a single sliding door.